Fed chair says cyberattacks main risk to US economy

WASHINGTON: Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said he was more worried about the risk of a large-scale cyberattack than another financial crisis like that of 2008.

The risks of a 2008-like crisis with a need for government bailouts of banks were "very, very low," the head of the US central bank said during an interview aired Sunday on CBS's "60 minutes."

"The world changes. The world evolves. And the risks change as well. And I would say that the risk that we keep our eyes on the most now is cyber risk," he said, adding that that concern was shared by multiple governments and private businesses, particularly in finance.

Additionally, those organizations invest the most against cyberattacks, he noted.

Powell stressed that the Federal Reserve was considering different types of scenarios: "There are scenarios in which a large payment utility, for example, breaks down and the payment system can't work. Payments can't be completed.

There are scenarios in which a large financial institution would lose the ability to track the payments that it's making and things like that," he said.

The Fed was also looking at the possibility that part or even a large part of the financial system could shut down.

"We spend so much time and energy and money guarding against these things," he said, noting that cyberattacks on major organizations happen "every day."